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Man kills himself at I-5 rest stop Police say suspect shot at car, then fled officers From wire and staff reports MERLIN -- A 40-year-old man fired a gun at a couple in north Grants Pass early Tuesday, then killed himself after a police officer confronted him at an Interstate 5 rest area, police said. The gunman was identified by police as William Douglas Radspinner. A former Grants Pass man with two past drunk-driving arrests, Radspinner listed his last address in the Sunny Valley area a few miles farther up the freeway. Shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, Radspinner "exchanged words" with a couple driving by and fired a handgun at them as they turned into a driveway, but did not hit the car, said Ron Schwartz, director of the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety. Sgt. Greg Deivert was patrolling in the area, and the couple told him the gunman had driven north on I-5. Deivert caught up to the suspect's pickup truck and followed without lights or siren while waiting for backup to join him, Schwartz said. Meanwhile, the gunman turned into the Manzanita Rest Area about five miles north of Grants Pass. Deivert stopped and drew his gun to detain the man, according to a police report. Without warning, the suspect got out of his pickup truck with a gun. Schwartz said the man held up the gun, ignored Deivert's command to drop it, said something like, "I'm a dead man," and fired into his right temple. Radspinner was pronounced dead at the scene. Oregon Department of Transportation closed the rest area for nearly two hours. The identification was initially delayed pending notification of relatives. According to court records, Radspinner appeared before a Jackson County judge only last week on a drunken driving charge filed by Central Point police. He pleaded not guilty. Radspinner was also arrested by Grants Pass police last year for the same thing. Other court cases included criminal mischief charges in 1997 in Columbia County and a Portland traffic ticket in 1994, when he gave an address in Longview, Wash. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA